I Found My ENT Very Ignorant

I went today for my ENT appointment and he was such an ignorant little shit. He did a nasal endoscopy but not an ear pressure test and did not check my Eustachian tubes. I am not sure if a nasal endoscopy can check all the way to the Eustachian tubes which I think this one didn’t. He said doing an ear pressure test and checking the Eustachian tubes won’t change anything. He offered me an MRI scan.

I then said to transfer me to another hospital where I can get these test done. I said I would like to know why this is happening and he said let’s focus on reducing the symptoms instead of finding out why it's happening. Then I told him about the popping, crackling, and clicking that I have experienced. He said it’s normal. I said I never had that before the tinnitus THAT came months after. At this point he said it’s probably mild ETD (Eustachian Tube Dysfunction) and we can do grommets. He said there is no congestion because the eardrums are healthy.

I went away feeling like shit. He was so unbelievably ignorant. It was like he knew best.

 

i saw an ENT specialist a number of years ago, they weren't very good at all, surprised at the low standard of care
my tinnitus likely originate from dental work, an infected root canal causing inflammation and overly large fillings causing a bit occlusion shift and temporomandibular joint disorder

 

Doesn't sound like a very good doctor to me. I'd encourage you to try and find another one, because there are good doctors out there who at least tries to understand and sympathize in our suffering, even though there aren't any good treatments out there.

I've gotten a fantastic ENT that believes my experiences and takes me seriously, and that means a lot to me.

Wish you well,
Stacken

 

All ENTs are fools. Imagine being in school for 10 years and knowing nothing.

 

You make it sound like they only deal with tinnitus, which is to pretty much know nothing, about tinnitus. But as you know, they deal with numerous other medical conditions that affect the Ear, Nose and Throat, and they can be very skilled in dealing with those conditions. It's just unfortunate that there aren't any good treatments for tinnitus.

 

The bedside manner of some ENTs and other medical professionals needs to improve. Perhaps it's because they believe they are all knowing regarding anything to do with medicine and diagnosing problems with the human anatomy. Thankfully, they are not all like that. If I went to see one for help and felt that they were condescending or impertinent towards me, then I would take the appropriate action, as I have done in the past with a Hearing Therapist and reported the person to the head of the Audiology. The matter was dealt with and never saw the person again. I later learned other patients had made complaints against the hearing therapist who was dismissed by the hospital.

ENT doctors are highly skilled medical professionals. They treat medical conditions affecting the Ear, Nose and Throat. When a person with tinnitus sees an ENT doctor for help, the doctor looks for underlying medical problems within the auditory system or elsewhere in the body that is causing the tinnitus but they do not treat the condition. Most (but not all) of these doctors know very little about tinnitus because this is not their area of expertise. When there is no underlying medical problem causing the tinnitus as in noise induced, the patient should be referred to Audiology to see an audiologist or hearing therapist that specialises in tinnitus and hyperacusis treatment. A lot of these health professionals have tinnitus. They were either born with it or acquired it at some time in their life. These are the correct people to see for treatment not an ENT doctor.

Michael

 

In my experience the ENT's have been fine - it's the audiologists that I don't have time for

 

Let's make a list of good ENTs here in Tinnitus Talk! No worries, I assume the list isn't going to be very long.

EDIT: I am serious, send me names. ;-)

 

Good ENTs or ENTs who are useful for tinnitus sufferers? I can name some of the first category, but haven't met anyone who was useful for my questions about tinnitus and I have visited 8. 1 neurologists, 3 audiologists and I learnt a lot more here than at any of my medical appointments.

 

The audiologist was quite good to me. She did suggest that if I am not happy then go to another ENT. She was empathetic and listened to my concerns.

 

No one likes ENTs here because they do not have solutions. No one goes with hearing damage and tinnitus to the ENT and comes back with any good news, and as a result they are called all sort of names. ENTs are only good for a very limited range of procedures and surgeries. Most people with just tinnitus are rarely candidates for those procedures, and in most cases the tinnitus will remain.

In my own experience, ENTs were OK, but I do not appreciate them because they represent the status quo of a retarded branch of medicine. One has to get tinnitus to realize that doctors have nothing: the Emperor has no clothes.

 

I don’t think I agree that all ENTs are fools or useless. I think part of the problem is we continually look to them to fix something they often have no ability to fix. I certainly think that there’s bad practitioners in every specialty. And bedside manner is very important. So attitude is everything.

I think the thing that frustrates tinnitus sufferers the most is that this is actually a neurological problem. Although the origin of the symptoms usually start with some sort of loss of hearing, it often cannot be corrected in the ears unless it is conductive hearing loss like earwax build up. And then it’s a crap shoot as to whether or not the brain goes back to normal and the tinnitus resolves. Look at how many people on Tinnitus Talk have gotten permanent tinnitus from an ear infection that in theory should have resolved once the infection cleared.

So we repeatedly go to the ENTs looking for them to fix something that’s actually a problem of the brain. That’s the really frustrating thing. And I know of ENTs who are equally as frustrated as we are and feel Somewhat powerless. I also see an otologist at Massachusetts Eye and Ear, who is well known internationally. He told me there’s over 200 things that cause tinnitus and that in abstentia of measurable hearing loss or ingestion of a known ototoxic drug, it’s almost impossible to figure it out. That’s why they tend to focus on the management of the symptoms because it’s very difficult to isolate the cause. And that is so maddening. I have fluctuating tinnitus and have spent hours and hours and hours going over every little thing I ate or drank or every medication I might’ve taken for nasal congestion or allergies wondering what has caused the spike. Sometimes it even goes away completely. Every time I think I have figured it out, the tinnitus proves me wrong. My ENT says my condition is probably multi factorial, which makes addressing it very difficult.

My ENT actually has tinnitus as well. So I guess I’m lucky in that regard that she can relate to what I’m going through. She experiences all the frustrations we have.

 

When I first saw an ENT, I was left with the feeling that I'd paid him to interview me to see if he could make money off me. TBF I think this was specific to his own ethical standards. I could swear I felt the door hit me on the way out of his rooms.

 

At this point I'd be skeptical of an ENT or any doctor who acted like he/she had all the answers to tinnitus. No one really knows how to fix it and there are so many things that trigger it. But bedside manner could definitely improve across the board.

I do wonder how it feels to have patients come in over and over with a problem that has multiple causes and very few solutions. I suppose you have to have a spiel that begins with "There's no cure for tinnitus, but there are ways to find relief" and then bring out the laundry list of things that might help like sound machines, Melatonin, etc. etc. etc. It must get old doing this over and over, but that's part of their job.

I also strongly feel like ENTs need to be part of a team that along with the audiologist includes a psychiatrist and some mind of dental specialist or have friends in those specialties they can refer you to if you need benzos or TMD examinations.

The thing with ENTs and Neurotologists is you never really know whether your provider is going to be sympathetic to tinnitus patients because they are surgeons and probably enjoy working on things that can be improved surgically.

@PrayForMe, the point here is everyone has felt the same way you have at one point when leaving an ENT, so don't be too discouraged. Just try to find someone who seems sympathetic and has some creative ideas and can help work with you long term. The response you got regarding the Eustachian Tube Dysfunction is pretty typical, but you shouldn't have left the office feeling the way you did.

 

At first he said popping, crackling and clicking was normal. After I said it only started happening after I got tinnitus and that I never had that before ever, then he said it's a mild case of ETD.

And in July when I saw him he said I can't have ETD because I have healthy ear drums. Very contradicting. You can't confirm ETD without an ear pressure test or checking the Eustachian tubes which I think is called an endoscopy. He did not do any of these tests. He said there was no need. He checked my sinuses and he said they were clear and fine but he didn't check my Eustachian tubes.